Ayurveda

ShatavariAsparagus racemosus

Q: Is shatavari used for the gut?

Ayurveda lists it for diarrhea (as a paste with milk), malabsorption disorders and piles, and the authors of a 1990 study say it is used for dyspepsia. It is better known as a women’s and lactation herb.

Q: What did the shatavari dyspepsia study show?

In 8 healthy men, gastric emptying half-time fell from 159.9 to 101 minutes with shatavari and to 85.3 minutes with metoclopramide, with no significant difference between the two. The men were healthy rather than patients, and the dose was not stated.

Q: Was shatavari tested on ulcers?

A 1996 report enrolled 20 people with a duodenal ulcer pattern who took 20 g a day of root powder with milk for a month. The indexed abstract gives the design but not the outcome, and there was no comparison group.

Q: Is shatavari the same as asparagus?

It is a relative: the same genus as garden asparagus, a different species. The root, not the shoot, is the medicinal part.

Q: Is shatavari safe in pregnancy?

We could not find pregnancy or breastfeeding safety studies. The tradition uses it in lactation and after childbirth, but that is the tradition’s use, not a safety finding.

A cooling Ayurvedic root for acidity and dyspepsia: in 8 healthy men it sped gastric emptying about as much as metoclopramide (159.9 to 101 minutes).

Botanical name: Asparagus racemosus
Part used: tuberous root
Also called: Sanskrit Shatavari, Abhiru; Hindi Satavar, Satamuli; Wild asparagus, Asparagus root
Used in: Ayurveda
Taken for: Indigestion, Reflux and heartburn, Loose stools and diarrhea
Sold as: root powder (churna), capsules, tablets, standardized root extract, ghee-based preparation (ghrita)

What is meant by shatavari

Shatavari is the tuberous root of Asparagus racemosus, a climbing plant in the same genus as garden asparagus. The tuberous roots are dried and sliced or ground. In Ayurveda it is mainly known as a women’s and lactation herb (the monograph lists a milk-promoting action), and the digestive uses are secondary.

It is sold as a dried root powder (churna), as capsules and tablets, as a standardized root extract, and in ghee-based preparations (ghrita). For the gut, the human literature is two small old papers, a 1990 gastric-emptying study in healthy volunteers and a 1996 report of a one-month course in people with duodenal ulcer. Neither is a placebo-controlled trial of symptoms, and the second does not publish results in its indexed abstract.

In the traditions

Ayurveda (about Ayurveda)

An Ayurvedic college monograph gives shatavari’s tastes as sweet and bitter, its qualities as heavy and unctuous, its potency as cooling and its post-digestive effect (vipaka) as sweet. Ayurvedic summaries describe it as calming pitta and vata. The monograph lists its actions as rasayana (rejuvenating), vrishya (supporting vitality), stanyajanana (promoting milk), hridya (heart tonic) and balya (strengthening), plus diuretic, carminative and constipating actions. For digestion, it names a paste of shatavari with milk followed by a milk-only diet for diarrhea (atisara), and lists malabsorption-type disorders (grahani) and piles (arsas). The authors of the 1990 gastric-emptying study state that Ayurveda uses shatavari for dyspepsia, which the tradition calls amlapitta. These are the tradition’s own claims, not measurements.

What the plant contains

Plant-chemistry papers describe steroidal saponins in the root, including compounds called shatavarins. In rats, an extract of the root was antisecretory and antiulcer against ulcers produced by the arthritis drug indomethacin plus tying off the stomach outlet (pyloric ligation). These are animal findings; they are not evidence of how the root acts in people, and none of the human gut studies below measured the saponins.

What has been tested in people

The strongest human gut data are from one small crossover study. In 8 healthy male volunteers, the time for half of a meal to leave the stomach (gastric emptying half-time) averaged 159.9 minutes at baseline, 101 minutes on shatavari and 85.3 minutes on metoclopramide, a prokinetic drug used in dyspepsia (both P < 0.001). Shatavari and metoclopramide did not differ significantly. The volunteers were healthy, not patients with dyspepsia, the abstract does not give the dose, and the study measured one marker (gastric emptying), not symptoms.

A 1996 report in Ancient Science of Life enrolled 20 people with parinamasula, the Ayurvedic term for a duodenal-ulcer pattern, confirmed by barium meal X-ray and gastric analysis; 15 had high stomach acid and 5 had normal acid. All took 20 g a day of shatavari root powder in three divided doses with milk for one month. The indexed abstract describes the design but not the results, and no comparison group is described, so we cannot give outcomes.

That is the whole human gut record in the sources we read. Not tested: shatavari against placebo for dyspepsia, reflux, ulcers, diarrhea or constipation; any trial of the root extract in patients; and whether the gastric-emptying effect on a single dose persists with daily use.

Study	Dose	What it found
Crossover study, 8 healthy male volunteers: shatavari versus metoclopramide on gastric emptying PMID 2097375	Not given in the abstract	Gastric emptying half-time 159.9 to 101 minutes with shatavari and 85.3 with metoclopramide (both P < 0.001); the two did not differ significantly
Report without a comparison group, 20 people with duodenal ulcer pattern (parinamasula) PMID 22556738	20 g a day of root powder in three doses with milk, 1 month	Design reported; results not shown in the indexed abstract
Rat study (not a human trial): antisecretory and antiulcer activity of the root against indomethacin plus pyloric ligation ulcers PMID 17135157	Animal doses	Reported antisecretory and antiulcer activity in rats

Doses used in trials and traditional preparations

The 1996 report used 20 g a day of shatavari root powder in three divided doses with milk for one month, The 1990 abstract does not state the volunteers’ dose. Traditionally the root is taken as a powder in milk, as a paste with milk for diarrhea, or in a ghee-based preparation (ghrita). We found no dose-response data and no extract dose with a gut outcome.

Treat these figures as a record of what was studied. Whether any amount of shatavari suits a particular person is a question for a clinician or pharmacist who knows their history.

Safety

The gut papers do not report side effects in their abstracts. A comprehensive safety record for the root is not in the sources we read, and we could not find studies in pregnancy, breastfeeding or children, even though the tradition uses the herb in lactation and after childbirth. The monograph lists a diuretic action, which is a tradition claim we found no trial on.

On contamination, a 2008 study of 193 Ayurvedic products sold online found lead, mercury or arsenic in 20.7%, against 40.6% of the metal-based rasa shastra products. A 2004 study of 70 Boston-area South Asian store products found 20% contained metals, and CDC recorded 12 adult lead poisoning cases tied to Ayurvedic remedies in five states between 2000 and 2003. None of these singled out shatavari, and plain root powders are not the metal-based class.

Drug interactions

We found no interaction studies for shatavari. In the 1990 study, a shatavari dose sped gastric emptying about as far as metoclopramide, so a combined effect with prokinetic medicines is a mechanism-based question rather than a documented interaction. The traditional diuretic action raises a similar question with diuretic medicines. Neither point has been tested in people in the sources we read.

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Is shatavari used for the gut?